


Snake Baby

by posabule



Series: Panlie Week 2019 [2]
Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, panlieweek2k19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:39:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posabule/pseuds/posabule
Summary: When Panda Jr. shows up at the bears’ house, Panda and Charlie spend the day trying to find his family. Panda learns new things about the forest.





	Snake Baby

Panda startles from his music-induced, trance-like state when he hears a voice calling to him from the living room.

“Panda! PAAAANDA! Little bro!” Grizz yells.

Panda grumbles and takes his headphones off.

“YEAH?”

When he gets no response, he begrudgingly gets up.

“What!” he whines when he runs into Grizz.

“Panda, it’s so crazy! You know that little striped snake baby Charlie took care of before? He’s outside all alone!” Grizz exclaims, over-energized.

Panda furrows his eyebrows. “Huh? Okay?”

He isn’t sure why Grizz is telling him this or why he should care. It is a snake, it lives outside.

Grizz shoots his arms out when he speaks to emphasize his point. “Bro! His family! I looked around a bit and they were nowhere near. Kind of weird, don’t you think? You should come out and see.”

Panda follows his big brother outside where Ice Bear is crouching over the small black and white striped snake Charlie had nicknamed ‘Panda Jr.’.

He crouches down next to his little brother and observes the creature. The snake immediately turns to him and climbs up his body, coiling around his arm. His body stiffens and he tries to keep his breathing steady.

“Uhh. Where is your family, little guy?”

Panda Jr. sticks out his tongue in response.

“Eheheh… ok,” Panda replies, unsure what to do about this snake that has contentedly coiled around him.

He has a pretty terrible fear of creepy crawlies, but his fear of snakes has dissipated over time. This is mostly thanks to Charlie who has helped him get used to them. Snakes are often involved in hangouts with Charlie.

“Aww, how cute! He’s taken a liking to you!” Grizz coos.

“Panda Jr. comfortable around you,” Ice Bear blankly states.

Panda gently uncurls the reptile from his arm and places it back on the ground, but it quickly slides back up and around his arm. He tries again, and again, but the snake always comes back. He sighs in defeat. It’s kind of cute, he supposes.

He’s unsure why of the three of them, the snake would choose him. He’s never been too in touch with the forest around them or paid much attention to the animals. He does have an uncanny resemblance to the snake, but the same could be said for Ice Bear and any white animal or Grizz and any brown animal. Right? Maybe he can impress Charlie with the snake.

“Maybe I should take him to Charlie? He’ll probably want to know about this and will know what to do,” Panda says. Most of the snakes in the forest are like family to the bigfoot, especially Panda Jr. and his family.

“Good idea. We’ll keep an eye out. Good luck!” Grizz says. Panda takes off towards Charlie’s home.

 

\----------

 

Charlie is visibly delighted to see Panda.

“PAN PAN!” The man shouts when the bear steps into his view. He quickly moves to hug the panda but curiously pulls away when he feels the lump around Panda’s arm.

“Oh my gosh, BABY! PANDA, WHAT ARE YOU DOIN’ WITH THIS LITTLE FRIEND?” Charlie squeals. “LOOK AT YOU LITTLE CUTIES, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. HAVE YOU BONDED, WHAT’S GOING ON!?”

Panda is unsure how to react to Charlie losing his mind at the sight of the two of them. The combination of Charlie’s large, adorable smile, glimmering eyes, the high energy response, and being called ‘cutie’ are overwhelming.

He picks the snake off of himself and tries to hand it over to the bigfoot, but the snake resists and continuously crawls back up his arm. He, again, admits defeat. It’s a shame he can’t hand the snake off to Charlie only since it is _adorable_ watching that man father.

“Wow, he really wants you!” Charlie says, hands clasped together near his face as he admires the two being so close.

“I know, I don’t know what’s going on! He hasn’t left me since I found him,” Panda fakes exasperation, though he really does not mind. The snake _is_ pretty cute. “My bros found him outside the house, and we don’t know where his family is. I figured you’d know what to do.”

Charlie’s elated expression immediately warps into a frown. “Oh no,” he gently rubs his finger under the tiny snake’s chin. “I’m not sure why he’d be left all alone, poor little fella. I hope everything is okay.”

It makes Panda ache to see the usually peppy man with such a droopy expression. He immediately jumps into comfort mode.

“Hey, it’s okay Charlie!” Panda says. He places a paw on his shoulder. “We can go look for his parents. We’ll find them!”

Charlie gives Panda a small smile. “Alrighty, yeah. I know a few places we should check. C’mon, they must be worried sick!”

Charlie grabs his paw and they take off through the woods, Panda Jr. in tow.

Despite Panda having lived in the area for years and being taken through the woods often by Charlie, he’s still relatively unfamiliar with them. He doesn’t pay much attention when Charlie guides him through them. He’s usually too focused on the hand-holding that always happens or watching the handsome, tall man guiding him.

It takes them a couple of hours to check out the places Charlie thought they were most likely to be, and they’re exhausted at the end of it. They check out along a stream, what Charlie insists are some prime sunning rocks, inside of logs, and under what feels like every bush in the forest. No luck.

Panda is getting nervous, but he masks it to keep Charlie and the snake calm. Panda Jr., at least, does not seem so concerned, but Panda isn’t sure he can understand what is going on anyway.

Charlie is clearly dejected, but he does not give up yet. “Alright, I know one more place to check out. They don’t go there often, but maybe other animals have some intel.”

With a look of determination, he begins to march off and Panda follows suit.

“Uh, what animals?”

“The ones at The Cracked Nut!” Charlie says matter-of-factly. Panda shoots him a look of confusion. “Aw, c’mon Panda. You’ve lived here longer than I have and you’ve never heard of The Cracked Nut? It’s the hottest place around!”

“I mean, my brothers and I aren’t exactly ones for nature. We’re city bears!” Panda omits the fact that he spends 80% of his life on his laptop, phone, or watching tv. Charlie doesn’t need to know just how mundane he is.

“Well then I’m glad I can show ya around! There’s lots to see. This hangout is by far one of my favorites. You’ll love it!”

“Okay,” Panda is expecting to be taken to a popular tree for squirrels to hang out, or maybe a clearing with a small gathering of animals. He is not sure why the man brings him to a pile of leaves.

“Alrighty!” Charlie pushes the leaves aside, revealing a decent sized hole in the ground. “Ta-da!”

The bigfoot gestures down at the hole. Panda walks forward and peers down into it.

“Charlie. What. Is. This.”

While Panda trusts Charlie, the man’s idea of “normal” is not exactly the same as Panda’s. He is never sure what will be thrown at him. And this, this looks like a bad idea.

“It’s The Cracked Nut! Like I said!”

Panda runs his paw down his face. “And there are animals hanging out down there? Doesn’t that seem a little creepy to you?”

“Nah, it’s a cute little hangout. Let me show you.”

Charlie walks towards Panda with a large smile on his face and puts his hands on the bear’s shoulders. It quickly becomes evident there is no getting out of this. Well, he can hardly dismiss that goofy smile nowadays anyway.

Panda Jr. slithers off of Panda and down into the hole. Charlie beings to gently push panda towards the hole.

“CHARLIE, I’m not going to fit through this hole!” Panda shrieks.

“Sure you will! Nothin’ to be afraid of,” the bigfoot attempts to comfort, but Panda’s eyes just further widen as he realizes how far the drop down is.

“CHARLIE, THIS IS CRAZY. There HAS to be a better way in,” he panics.

“Nope! Gotta keep it as secret as possible, so this is the only entrance!”

“CHARLIE, I AM GOING TO BREAK MY NECK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”

Charlie gives one last push and Panda tips over the edge. He falls down the hole, screaming the whole way down.

Panda flops onto the ground, landing on his belly. The air is knocked out of him and he lies there, flat, trying to regain himself. Charlie’s lucky he has so much fluff and fat to cushion the fall. His body aches, anyway. Just as he is about to recover, something, or someone large lands on top of him.  

“Ugh- CHARLIE!” Panda screams. “Guh.”

“Heh, you okay there Pan Pan? Thanks for helping me land that fall!” Charlie turns his face down towards Panda, eyes closed and mouth smiling.

“No. Problem,” he replies, still mostly breathless. He finds it hard to get mad at that cute face nowadays.

When Panda fails to get up, Panda Jr. slithers over to his face and looks down into his left eye.

“Well I’m glad you’re doing okay little bud.” The bear weakly smiles up at the creature.

Panda hears an awkward cough from the other side of the room and looks up to see about two dozen pairs of eyes on him. His face burns. They are in a table filled cave, warmly lit with candles that line the walls. At the tables sit all sorts of forest creatures. Forest creatures who are all now silently judging the bear after the scene he just made. Not a great first impression.

“Eheh… hi,” Panda awkwardly waves at the animals. They quickly lose interest and turn away, going back to their activities.

Charlie elbows Panda, seemingly oblivious to the judgement he just faced. “You like it? At night there’s usually some nice music playing!” he proudly says.

“Uh- yeah! It’s… great down here,” Panda nervously responds. He feels out of place. Uncomfortable. Panda Jr., who is coiled around the top of his arm, rubs his cheek against the bear. It’s soothing.

Charlie takes off towards a table of a squirrel, a beaver, and a doe. Panda cautiously follows.

“Amara! Dexter! Alma! What’s up?” the bigfoot greets the table of animals with his usual charm. The animals all take their turns chittering at him, and then they all turn to stare at Panda.

He takes a step back and blushes. “Uh, hello,” he shyly greets them. He has no idea if Charlie has ever talked about him or if they have any idea who he is. They have probably at least seen him around. God knows what they think of him, especially after that entrance.

“Oh, uh, yeah. You guys, this is Panda! And our little baby, Panda Jr.!” Charlie delivers this in an uncharacteristically bashful way.

The animals look Panda up and down and then nod at Charlie, chittering once more. Charlie blushes at what the animals say. Panda wishes he could understand them.

“Well, anyways, we were wondering if you knew where Harry, Karen, and their little ones are? Panda here found this little baby all alone this morning and their family is nowhere in sight! We’re getting kinda worried.”  

Charlie intently listens to the animals as they respond.

“Mhm. Hmmm. Okay. Well, thanks for trying to help! Have a nice day you all,” Charlie waves them goodbye.

“Well? What did they say?” Panda asks once they’ve moved away from the animals. He’d ask what the animals said about him, but he fears he would come off as insecure. Not that he isn’t.

“They’ve got no idea. But it’s alright, we’ll keep askin’!”

Charlie’s optimism never fails to amaze the panda. It keeps him from being his oft-negative self when things are looking down.

They move from table to table, Panda clearly being judged by each animal they run into. Sometimes he gets a little snicker from them, sometimes what seems like a sly remark. There’s no way his entrance left _that_ bad of an impression. He’s uncomfortable, but it helps being by Charlie’s side.

They hit the last table with no luck and make their way out to the forest, Charlie slightly dejected. Panda’s pessimism may be worse than Charlie’s, but he wants to keep a positive attitude for him.

“Hey man, we’ll find them. I’m sure everything’s alright. It must get hectic parenting! They’re probably caught up with something.”

Charlie weakly smiles. “Yeah, it’s just weird. It’s been a few hours and no one seems to know a thing.”

Panda frowns down at the snake, pondering how he can make things better. “He must be hungry, how about we go feed him and wait things out together?” the bear offers.

“Yeah! Let’s go hang back at my place and we can grab him a snack there.”

Charlie takes Panda’s paw and the three of them head back.

 

\--------

 

Panda leans against a tree, Panda Jr. curled up in his lap, and contentedly watches as Charlie lifts rocks and gathers up bugs for the snake. He finds it oddly charming watching the man scavenge for bugs. He is so focused and has the most adorable look of satisfaction on his face every time he manages to catch an insect.

Just as a blush begins to form on Panda’s face, Charlie shoves what appears to be a beetle into his mouth and happily eats it. Panda’s eyes go wide in horror. He does not react when Charlie bounds over and presents the container of caught bugs to him.

“I think I’ve got enough to make a nice meal for him!” Charlie proudly exclaims.

The bear is still frozen in shock. When he does not respond, Charlie scoops the snake out of his lap and settles down next to him.

“Not sure what kinda bugs this fella is into, but I made sure to get a nice variety for him! He ought to like one of them.”

They sit silently as Charlie gently feeds the hungry snake. Panda Jr. accepts most bugs except for the earthworm and ladybugs. Panda is still trying to move on from the sight of seeing this man he is attracted to consume a bug.

Panda hears Charlie’s stomach growl and he realizes just how hungry he himself is.

“Hey, why don’t I grab us some dinner from the cave? I’m starving.”

Charlie looks down at his rumbling stomach. “Sounds great! I’ll hold the fort down while you’re gone!”

Back at the cave, Panda makes the two some sandwiches, cuts up melon, and then heads back to Charlie. He finds him dozing off in the car, Panda Jr. hugged tightly against his body. It is unbelievably endearing. He wishes he could take a picture, but he knows how much it would hurt Charlie if he knew Panda betrayed his trust like that. So he marvels at the sight and absorbs the sweet image before he gently settles down next to them.

He pulls out his sandwich and silently eats it all the while admiring the snoozing bigfoot next to him. It is amazing how a baby animal can somehow make anyone, even someone enchanting as Charlie, cuter. The sun is gently filtering through the trees, through the car window, and pleasantly bathing Charlie in a golden light. Before Panda knows it, he has fallen asleep leaning against the man, lulled by the car’s warmth and his own warm feelings.

Panda wakes up to darkness, so he feels around to gain a sense of his surroundings. He quickly realizes that he is slotted right in Charlie’s lap, his head on the bigfoot’s chest. Long arms are wrapped around him. He struggles to keep his composure. He has dreamed about being in this position about a million times. Now that he is, he has no idea how to handle it. He tries to settle in and enjoy it. Tries to fully take it all in.

He panics as the man underneath him begins to stir. Charlie reaches up to turn on the car light which floods the car with a dull, yellow light. Charlie looks down at Panda with a sleepy smile, the snake baby curled up on the bigfoot’s shoulder.

“Well hey, Pumpkin. How did you sleep?” Charlie asks with a sleepy, gravelly voice that sends chills down the bear’s spine.

Panda is baffled that Charlie is acting like everything is totally normal, like he isn’t curled up on top of him right now. Baffled, but delighted. He wants this to be their normal. Never has he felt so comfortable and cared for.  

“I slept really nice!” he stammers out, head still resting on Charlie’s chest. “Um, did you sleep well?”

Charlie chuckles and lightly scratches behind Panda’s ear. His face burns. “I slept wonderfully! Man, was real exhausting searching all day. I needed that nap.”

Panda’s brain is frozen. He can only offer a dumb, awkward giggle as a response. Charlie shoots him a sweet half-smile.

“Now that it’s night it’s more temperate out. Should mean snakes are more active!” Charlie says.

He does not want to get up. He wants to lay here all night. And all morning. And for the rest of eternity. As if Panda Jr. can sense his reluctancy, he slithers over to Panda and wraps around his wrist. _Come on Panda Jr.,_ he thinks, _wouldn’t hurt to_ _be a wingman_.

He slowly sits up and scoots over to his own side of the car.

“How do you even see out in the woods when it’s this dark?” Panda wonders aloud. Aside from the car’s dim light, it is pitch black around them. The moon’s light is not enough to make much of a difference.

“Eh, I’ve got pretty good eyesight! Almost like night vision. Besides, I got lots of flashlights,” Charlie says. He opens up the center console and pulls out two, giving a small yellow one to Panda.

As Panda is playing with his flashlight, flicking it on and off, the leaves of a nearby bush begin to rustle. A small, shadowy figure walks out. Panda jumps back against Charlie. Charlie shines his flashlight on the figure and illuminates what appears to be the beaver from earlier. Panda Jr.’s family trail behind him.

Charlie gasps and runs out to greet them. “Oh my gosh! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! My man Panda and I have been looking for you all day.”

_My man._ What does that even mean? At this point it seems like Charlie is _trying_ to make him blush.

He walks over next to Charlie and puts his paw near the ground so Panda Jr. can safely go back to his family. The snake slides off his paw, turns to Panda, and quickly sticks his tongue out at him. He offers the baby a smile and gently pets him.

“Aww, Pan Pan and I are here to babysit if you two ever need it!” Charlie is crouched down, talking to Harry and Karen. “Your kids are little angels. We loved taking care of little Panda Jr.!”

Panda Jr. slides over to his parents who greet him with a cuddle.

The snakes aren’t making any noise as Charlie talks to them. Panda is unsure how Charlie is holding a conversation with them, but the man is full of mystery. They make small talk for a good 5 minutes, Panda awkwardly standing to the side. At one point during their conversation they all pause and glance over at Panda, Charlie’s face turning red as they do. _Again?_ He shoots them an awkward smile in response.

“Well you all have a fantastic day now, I’m glad you’re alright!” Charlie finally bids them farewell.

When the animals disappear into the bushes, Charlie dramatically puts his arm around Panda’s shoulder and leans against him.

“Aw, I’m going to miss Panda Jr. so much!” he wails.

Panda gives the hand on his shoulder a pat. “Yeah, me too. I’m surprised at how… cute snakes can be?” He really is. He never thought of them as cute before, even after overcoming his fears. But they are just adorable little noodles that can be surprisingly expressive.

Soft arms suddenly pull him into a tight hug. “AW, I’M SO HAPPY YOU TWO BONDED!”

Panda smiles against Charlie’s fuzzy chest and wraps his arms around him in return.

“Me too.”

When they pull away, they go sit back in the car. Charlie still hadn’t eaten his dinner from earlier, so Panda hands it to the bigfoot who gratefully takes it.

Just as he’s about to take a bite out of his sandwich he sighs. “You know, it’s real nice experiencing having a little family,” Charlie sadly stares down at his food.

Poor Charlie. He knows the man has never even met a bigfoot until Ralph and doesn’t have the found family he himself has. It must hurt getting a taste of something you have so long been wanting. He’s glad he could be the one to help him experience it, though, and he hopes they can take care of more creatures together in the future.

Panda places a sympathetic paw on Charlie’s knee and gives it a gentle rub. “I had a really nice day,” he offers his sweetest smile.

Charlie places his hand over Panda’s paw. “You think we’ll have more adventures like that?”

“Sure, why not?” Panda smiles up at him. “I’d love to.”

They share a moony smile for a few seconds.

“Hey Charlie,” Panda can’t help but let his insecurity break the sweet moment. “What were all the animals saying about me earlier?”

“Hm?” Charlie says.

Panda huffs. “At that animal hangout earlier, every time you talked to a new group of animals they would pointedly look at me. It really seemed like they said something about me to you! Even Harry and Karen!”

“Oh,” Charlie sputters. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Charlie!” Panda whines, giving Charlie his best pout.

“Ah, trust me Pan Pan, it was nothing,” Charlie is clearly trying, and failing, to act nonchalant. His face is bright red, and Panda thinks he’s catching onto what was happening. He decides to drop it. For now.

 


End file.
